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Cited by 118Grief, Bereavement, and Mental HealthDeath, Funerary Practices, and MourningSuicide and Self-Harm Studies

Taboo and the different death? Perceptions of those bereaved by suicide or other traumatic death

Open access
Chapple, Alison, Ziebland, Sue, Hawton, Keith·2015·Sociology of Health & Illness
DOI 10.1111/1467-9566.12224
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Abstract

Views differ on how far the subject of death has ever been taboo in Western Society. Walter (1991) criticised the way the 'taboo thesis' has been presented, arguing that it has often been 'grossly overdrawn and lacking in subtlety'. Research suggests that suicide and other traumatic death may be particularly difficult for people to talk about or even acknowledge. We interviewed 80 people bereaved due to suicide, or other traumatic death and used interpretative thematic analysis to consider whether the 'death taboo' is evident in these bereavement narratives. People referred to suicide as a different, even stigmatised, death but we also found that those bereaved through other traumatic death felt that their reactions had to be contained and relatively silent. The exception was those bereaved through terrorism or train crash, who were encouraged to grieve openly and angrily: reactions to deaths which are seen as 'private troubles' differ from reactions to deaths which are seen as 'public issues'. Using a symbolic interactionist approach we conclude that the shock and suddenness of the death is tied up both with the circumstances of the death (suicide, murder, accident, terrorism) and the attendant consequences for the social acceptance of public displays of mourning.

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  • Qualitative findings from Britain, Australia, and African-American communities identify stigma as a significant barrier to accessing appropriate support after suicide bereavement.

    “Qualitative findings from Britain [31], Australia [22,32] and African-American communities [33] further identify stigma as a significant barrier to accessing appropriate support after suicide bereavement.”

    From Support Needs and Experiences of People Bereaved by Suicide: Qualitative Findings from a Cross-Sectional British Study of Bereaved Young Adults (2018) · cites this paper as [31]

    The study, primarily of white British participants (Discussion; page unavailable), reports that some people bereaved by suicide felt stigmatised or ostracised, including being avoided by friends and family ('Acceptable' grieving; page unavailable). The Discussion also describes social pressure not to talk about the death. These findings support stigma as an obstacle to social support, but the paper does not establish that stigma prevented access to appropriate support services; the Australian and African-American findings are attributed to other citations. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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  • That study reported that interviewees bereaved by suicide, accidental death, and murder felt stigmatised and unable to mourn openly, described others' social difficulties in discussing or acknowledging the topic, and expectations to hide their grief due to social distaste over the associations of shame and blame.

    “This study reported that interviewees bereaved by suicide, accidental death, and murder felt stigmatised and unable to mourn openly, described others' social difficulties in discussing or acknowledging the topic, and expectations to hide their grief due to social distaste over the associations of shame and blame.”

    From The stigma associated with bereavement by suicide and other sudden deaths: A qualitative interview study (2018) · cites this paper as Chapple et al., 2015

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  • Participants described being blamed for the suicide by family members, friends, and professionals, which was experienced as stigmatizing.

    “Participants described being blamed for the suicide by family members, friends, and professionals, which was experienced as stigmatizing [46,51,52].”

    From The Stigma of Suicide Survivorship and Related Consequences—A Systematic Review (2016) · cites this paper as [46]

    In ‘Acceptable’ grieving (page unavailable), Natasha describes her belief that a friend held her father responsible for her brother’s suicide, and the paper links perceived responsibility with stigma. Another participant reports stigma within her family, but the passages do not show family members or professionals blaming participants for a suicide. Natasha also says the friend’s reason for avoiding her father could only be suspected. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • Our results are consistent with one other British qualitative study comparing experiences of stigma following bereavement by suicide and by other unnatural causes, although that did not include interviewees bereaved by natural causes.

    “Our results are also consistent with those of one other British qualitative study comparing experiences of stigma following bereavement by suicide and by other unnatural causes, although that did not include interviewees bereaved by natural causes (Chapple et al., 2015).”

    From The stigma associated with bereavement by suicide and other sudden deaths: A qualitative interview study (2018) · cites this paper as Chapple et al., 2015

  • In qualitative studies, participants frequently described feeling stigmatized, experienced as negative distinctiveness from others.

    “In the qualitative studies, participants also frequently described feeling stigmatized, which was experienced as a negative distinctiveness from others [46,47,49,55].”

    From The Stigma of Suicide Survivorship and Related Consequences—A Systematic Review (2016) · cites this paper as [46]

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Armour, M. (2007) Violent death, Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 14, 4, 53-90.
  2. Doka, K. (2002) Introduction. In Doka, K. (ed) Disenfranchised Grief: New Directions, Challenges, and Strategies for Practice. Champaign, IL: Research Press.
  3. Goffman, E. (1963) Stigma. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
  4. Lamers, W. (2003) When a public figure dies. In In Lattanzi-Licht, M. and Doka, K. Living with Grief: Coping with Public Tragedy New York: Brunner-Routledge.

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Authors
Chapple, A., Ziebland, S., & Hawton, K.
Affiliations
  • University of Oxford (GB)
  • Primary Care Health Sciences University of Oxford UK
Corresponding author
Chapple, Alison
ORCID
Hawton, Keith
Venue
Sociology of Health & Illness
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2015-02-13
Volume
37
Issue
4
Pages
610-625
ISSN
  • 0141-9889 (ISSN-L)
  • 1467-9566
DOI
10.1111/1467-9566.12224
OpenAlex
W2108341651
Cited by
118
References
45
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 13
FWCI
14.07
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Sociology of Health & Illness (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Department of Health for England and Wales
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
Keywords
death taboo, suicide, traumatic death, bereavement, grief, mourning, stigma, symbolic interactionism, terrorism, train crash, murder, accidents
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Bereavement, Cause of Death, Female, Grief, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Socioeconomic Factors, Suicide, Taboo

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